DESIGNED TEST THAT WILL IDENTIFY THE DORMANT HIV

Scientists from around the world do not stop looking for a cure for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). New drugs are created and tested constantly, and the work in this direction is hampered by the fact that the virus may be present in humans in the so-called “dormant” form, which is not detectable with usual tests. But recently a research group from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a new method for detection of HIV, which is able to detect even the latent forms of the virus.
Currently the most effective treatment for the dangerous disease is antiretroviral therapy. This method consists of taking several drugs with the ultimate goal of which are
stop playback of the virus in the body, restore the immune system and increase life expectancy and quality of life of the patient. In order to understand how successful was the combined treatment is now used test Q-VOA, for which requires a lot of money (around 1200$) and a considerable amount of blood from a patient.
Research group from the USA under the guidance of Dr. Phalguni Gupta reported that they were able to develop an alternative to costly test, which was called TZA. The principle of operation of a new diagnostic method based on the identification of a specific gene, which is formed only in the replication of the virus in humans. TZA is much cheaper and faster than its counterpart, and also requires a smaller amount of withdrawn blood. In addition, according to the study authors,

“Using this test, we were able to demonstrate that even in patients after antiretroviral therapy asymptomatic disease continues. This is due to the fact that the reservoirs of the virus in these patients is approximately 70 times greater than previously thought, and test the Q-VOA sometimes cannot identify. While TZA is not a reason to completely abandon the Q-VOA. Just in different clinical situations will be appropriate to use different options examination of the patient”